Boutros-Ghali is to sell Egypt off-plan properties pounds to prevent its currency appreciating below 5.75 per dollar to defend competitiveness of its exports and jobs, the finance minister said.

Egypt would ``prefer'' for the currency not to appreciate in a range stronger than 5.70 to 5.75 per dollar, Youssef Boutros- Ghali said in an interview in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el- Sheikh, where about 1,200 mainly Arab political and business leaders are gathering for the annual Middle East meeting of the World Economic Forum.

A stronger currency ``reduces your competitiveness, so your exports go down and what concerns us, employment goes down,'' Boutros-Ghali said in an interview. Merrill Lynch & Co. said last month Egypt's currency may gain against the dollar as faster economic growth boosts foreign currency reserves.

The dollar has declined 5.4 per cent versus the pound since December 2004, when Egypt's central bank set up an exchange for banks to trade currencies to improve their supply to the market. The pound, which the government floated in 2003, closed yesterday at 5.77 pounds per dollar.

Egypt last year reported record income in foreign currencies from tourism, oil and gas sales, and fees on ships passing through the Suez Canal that links the Mediterranean and Red seas.